The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that a court clerk influenced the trial by suggesting to jurors that Murdaugh might lie while testifying in his own defense.
WASHINGTON — Alex Murdaugh, the former attorney convicted in the murders of his wife and son, will get a new trial after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his murder convictions on Wednesday.
In a unanimous ruling, the justices said the conduct by a court clerk “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted. They also said the trial judge went too far in allowing evidence of Murdaugh’s financial crimes into his murder trial.
The overturned conviction vacates the guilty verdicts that had sent the former attorney to prison for life in the killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.
When will Alex Murdaugh get a new trial?
It’s not immediately known when exactly the retrial may happen. Shortly after Wednesday’s ruling was announced, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said his office will seek to retry Murdaugh “as soon as possible.”
“While we respectfully disagree with the Court’s decision, my Office will aggressively seek to retry Alex Murdaugh for the murders of Maggie and Paul as soon as possible. Let me be clear—this decision does not mean Murdaugh will be released. He will remain in prison for his financial crimes. No one is above the law and, as always, we will continue to fight for justice,” Wilson said in a statement.
The new trial will determine whether prosecutors can once again secure a murder conviction — or whether a different outcome is reached.
The original trial against Murdaugh took six weeks.
During the trial, the state presented evidence including a video from Paul Murdaugh’s phone that prosecutors said placed Alex Murdaugh at the scene shortly before the killings. They also introduced extensive testimony about his financial crimes, arguing it showed motive.
Murdaugh’s attorneys, however, argued there was no direct physical evidence linking him to the shootings, noting no DNA or blood was found on him or his clothing.
Will Alex Murdaugh be released from prison?
Despite the Supreme Court overturning the murder conviction, the 57-year-old won’t be getting out of prison as he pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and currently is serving a 40-year federal sentence.
Still, the state Supreme Court ruling is a win for Murdaugh, who admits to being a thief, liar, insurance cheat and bad lawyer, but has adamantly denied killing his wife Maggie and younger son Paul since he found their bodies outside their home in 2021.
Murdaugh’s legal drama continues to captivate. There have been streaming miniseries, best selling books and dozens of true crime podcasts about how the multimillionaire Southern lawyer whose family dominated and controlled the legal system in tiny Hampton County ended up in a maximum security South Carolina prison.
WLTX’s Tony Santaella and the Associated Press contributed to this report.